every year the industry is well before halloween telling us what everybody must have for christmas. trying to get our interest peaked and primed for the season. >> joy yafrnlths das. great to see you this morning. "american been a tragedy o the track. good morning, everybody. i'm alina cho. racing fan, in shock after a violent car crash claims the life of an indycar champion. fellow racers saying it's the worse crash they've ever seen. and occupy wall street goes global. i'm christine romans again. demonstrators take to the streets in cities across europe, asia and africa, but after 30 days of protests, what is this movement's end game? on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, everybody.

good morning, christine. it's mont, october 17th. ali is off, carol is on assignment, and i'm alina cho. this car crash, our hearts go out to the family of dan wheldon. we'll speak to say the a lot of about this. >> heart broken fans and drivers this morning. the tragedy on the track. indycar champion dan wheldon died in one of the worst crashes the sport has ever seen yesterday in las vegas. indycar going into the off-season how fragile life can be and how dangerous their sport is. some of the images of the crash you'll see may be disturbing. >> reporter: the last race of the year, dan wheldon's car sailing through the air, slamming into the catch fence and disintegrated. >> oh, multiple cars involved. >> reporter: a horrific 15-car wreck. video showing cars spinning out

of control, bursting into flames and shooting smoke and debris into the air. >> cars in flames, wreckage, carnage. terrible. >> they just crumpled and caught on fire and everybody gasped. >> reporter: racers got the news about two hours after the crash. >> indycar is very sad to announce that dan wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injury. our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. >> reporter: the race was endeded. drivers, many in tears, returned to the track for a five-lap salute in his honor. ♪ >> now, i know this is a dangerous sport. i know we're supposed to die every day in a normal life as well, but, you know, you don't think about it, and today you have to think about it. we lost one of my best friends. one of my greatest teammates. you have anybody in this field

if we could choose a way to go, that's the way. so -- i wouldn't have chosen different either. >> reporter: dan wheldon made his indycar debut in 2002. fans laid flowers and lit candles outside the iconic brickyard last night. >> dan wheldon has every pla phied everything about this series and why people continue to come to the race. this is the racing capital of the world. this is why people come here. >> reporter: this was wheldon drinking the milk in victory lane back in may, winning in one of the most thrilling finishes ever at the indy 500, taking the checkered flag when the leader crashed in the final lap. he joined "american morning" just hours after that big win and talked about the pressure to stay sharp and stay fast. >> it's incredibly intense around this racetrack. we're doing speeds in excess of 225 miles an hour, and with this race you just never know what can happen.

so it's about staying focused, and you really don't ever let off the power unless you have to, and you know, that's what i wanted to do yesterday, and that's what i did. >> reporter: wheldon entered yesterday's race for a shot at a $5 million purse, biggest of his career. he was starting at the back of a 34-car pack. wheldon is survived by his wife suzy, his 2-year-old son sebastian and his 7-month-old son oliver. he was just 33 years old. >> he wasn't just a great driver but a great human being. i just can't believe that he is no longer with us. >> wheldon and other drivers had also expressed concern about the conditions for the race at las vegas motor speedway. the tires can close, the stakes were high. the cars were fast, very fast. some reaching 225 miles an hour. drivers experiencing 4gs on the turns. the space shuttle leaves the launch pad with about that same force, and there were 34 cars, a

record 34 cars on the track that day. >> which is a lot. and there have been concerns about whether there were too many cars on the track. were the planners of this race not discriminating enough in terms of bringing the best drivers on to the track. we'll talk about that. our other big story, images of protests againstall street big banks are coming in from all over the world. the movement is now a month old and while some protests have been peaceful, in washington, d.c. yesterday, 19 people arrestedive cluding cornell west. after the protesters refused to live the steps of the supreme court. now a message posted to west's twitter account says he's been ordered to appear in court this afternoon. [ chanting ] and here in new york city, thousands surged into times square saturday night. 78 people arrested and last night 14 more people handcuffed

for violating a midnight curfew at the city's washington square park. in rome the city's mayor says it will cost $1.4 million to clean up after rioters shattered store windows, set businesses and cars on fire. you can see the billowing smoke there. police officers were among the injures. and the movement against corporate greed, even spreading as far as the alaskan tundra. this picture taken and posted on the occupy wall street page. the image shared more than 5,000 time. this says occupy the tundra. >> probably go viral. two weeks now since 11-month-old lisa irwin disappeared from her home in kansas city. some two dozen members of the missouri national guard joined the search alongside local and federal investigators. a big reward offered for the baby's safe return. cnn's jim spellman following developments live in kansas city for us.

jim, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, awe lena. no real progress in this case. two weeks in this home behind me, the mother says she put her to bed. at 4:30 in the morning the father jeremy coming home from the night shift and the baby's gone. they interview the family, anybody in the area. none has generated any real solid leads that we know of. they decided over the weekend to bring in new people, specially trained military police. 25 of them, to research the areas they've already searched to be sure they haven't missed anything. with no real other leads to go on, they have to do anything they can to try to generate new content, new leads, new clues to work on. take a listen to what the fbi told us about their search yesterday. >> what we're looking at here is we have searched this area. we have new people out here. fresh eyes looking at the area that we've already searched. you know, definitely being thorough, doing do diligence and making sure if we have fresh

eyes maybe there's something we didn't see the first time we searched it. >> reporter: that area is just a few blocks from here, and it's really dense woods covered with vines. they went over this area inch by inch. as far as we know, yielded no new clues in this troubling case. alina? >> all right, jim spellman following the case for us from kansas city. jim, thank you very much. all right. later this morning, gary giordano in a courtroom in aruba trying to win his release. the maryland man is a suspect in the disappearance of his travel companion robyn gardner. his lawyer will argue there isn't enough evidence to hold him. they were snorkeling when she disappeareded. he was arrested at aruba's airport three days later as he waited for a flight back to the u.s. and her family said she would never go snorkeling. and the involuntary trial of michael jackson's trial, testimony on hold because the

father of the prosecution's final witness died. no word when the trial will resume. even with this delay in the case against dr. conrad murray it is expected to go to the jury early next week. president obama hits the road against today in his three-day bus trip. part of an effort to get congress to pass elements of his jobs bill after it was defeated in the senate last week. the president will make several stops in north carolina and virginia, and he wants congress to pass it all by pieces, if they're not going to pass the whole thing. >> he just wants it done. the stakes couldn't be higher for tomorrow night's cnn western republican debate in las vegas. seven gop candidates on hand and the economy, of course, expected to dominate the conversation. nevada is critical in terms of presidential elections. the unemployment rate there is 13.4%. that's the highest in the country. and the home for foreclosure rate in nevada is also the worst in the nation. tomorrow night cnn will host the western republican presidential debate. anderson cooper will moderate,

8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. our own carol costello is attending and will have all the analysis. maybe bleary eyed but she'll be there. >> also unhappy about her detroit tigers out of the playoffs. all right. he stood tall as america's preeminent civil rights leaders. now he stands among presidents. a memorial dedicated yesterday on washington mall. president obama among the speakers urging americans to follow dr. kings ideals. >> that is why we honor this man, because he had faith in us, and that is why he belongs on this mall, because he saw what we might become. >> this is a day that all americans can be proud of, and may i remind you that this is not just a celebration by african-americans but for americans and citizens around

this world. >> the ceremony honoring dr. king was originally scheduled for august but, of course, postponed, you remember, because of hurricane irene. >> i've got to get there to see that. it looks spectacular. four acre memorial right on the mall. ahead, new details about the crash that killed indycar champion dan wheldon and concerns about how the track and how crowded it would be. we're live in las vegas. plus, we're talking trash and lots of it. while it's piling up on the streets of a major city. and the world series is set. why carol is so upset. a team that pulled off a miracle to make the playoffs will be there. we'll tell you about it. it's 11 minutes after the hour. back after this. you want it to. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™. same great taste.

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. welcome back. our top story this morning, indycar losing one of its best and most popular drivers. dan wheldon died yesterday after a terrible 15-car pileup on the track in las vegas. cars flying into the air, and

into each other. several burst into flames. the crowded field, 34 cars in all, was a big concern going into the race. carlos diaz is live in las vegas with the latest. carlos, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you know, when we talk about the indycar racing series losing a champion, they've also lost one of the most charismatic people on the tour. i got a chance to know dan well. being in vegas the last several indianapolis 500s there there is not a more charismatic racer, perhaps in sports, than dan wheldon. with his race, one of those things where the entire indy racing community is truly in tears. probably not a more popular driver next to danica patrick and ironically, dan wheldon was going to take over for danica patrick in the godaddy.com team when danica went to nascar that season. that deal was supposed to be signed yesterday after the race.

of course, dan wheldon never made it to after the race, and i can tell you right now, when you see the tears coming from the drivers, they're truly, truly heartfelt tears, because dan wheldon, one of the most charismatic charming guys you'll ever want to meet. >> time off i've has truly made me understand and really graft how much i love driving the cars themselves. i mean, indycars are fantastic to drive. i want to be part of that, there's no doubt about it. >> reporter: yeah, and basically what he's talking about there, time off, even though he won the indianapolis 500 this season, he's had a tough time keeping a sponsor. so basically, being out here in las vegas, he was going for a $5 million prize, which if we would have won the race he would have gotten and had started in the back of the pack. dan wheldon starting in the back of a 34-car pack having to get

to the front quickly. he was in the back of the pack having to get past these cars when it happened in turn two of the lap yesterday. once again, the most horrific crash danica patrick said she's ever seen in indycar racing took the life of dan wheldon as he was airlifted to the hospital yesterday after the race. amazing loss for indycar racing. if you saw, they did a five-lap tribute to dan wheldon, a true champion and a truly great person. >> carlos, in fact, christine and i remember very well talking to dan wheldon five months ago when he won the indy 500 and racing to raise awareness to alzheimer's disease. his mother recently diagnosed. having said that, i mentioned at the top there were a lot of concerns about their being too many cars on the track. 34 cars. that's a lot. some people have said that the people who planned this race weren't discriminating enough in terms of picking the very best drivers for this. what are people saying about that?

>> reporter: well, you have to keep in mind thatted oval here in las vegas motor speedway is a mile and a half oval. the indianapolis 500 is 2.5 miles. a much bigger oval. you have a very small oval with very high bank turns. you're right. the 34 cars on the track, that's one more than the indianapolis 500. you have a lot of cars on the track and then a driver like dan wheldon starting in the back of the pack with all the incident in the world to get to the front and get that $5 million prize. the speeds, up to 200 miles an hour. some drivers speaking it being very unsafe. you make a very, very valid point. >> carlos diaz, a $5 million purse he was going to share with a fan, had he won, which speaks so much to his character. you know. >> two very young children. we spoke to him in may after he won indianapolis 500. he was so bubbly, so young and so excited about being fast and staying on.

>> who could forget that accent? >> i know. heartbroken. fans and drivers, heartbroken today. also new, an employee of a new york city mcdonald's facing charges. the incident captured on cell phone. the cashier can be see beating the two customers with a metal object following an argument apparently over a $50 they paid with. the two women remain hospitalized in serious condition. gunfire and explosions rocking the capital of yemen overnight. witnesses say government security forces continue to battle opposition troops. error on sunday, yemeni soldiers opened fire on demonstrators gathering for a march in the capital. five people killed. 54 others injured, according to one medic on the scene. and. is and piles of trash litter the streets of athens, greece. the city garbage collectors joined the nationwide strikes to protest a new round of tax hikes and spending cuts.

the city is prepared to bring in private sanitation workers to clean up that mess. you and i were up very late watching this. we all know that the world series is set. the texas rangers versus the st. louis cardinals. the cards winning the national league pennant by stopping the brewers in game six. final score was 12-6. now, a little more than a month ago, the cards were trailing by more than ten games in the race for the playoffs. now, the rangers put away the tigers on saturday night in game six. it's the rangers second straight world series appearance. they are going for their first world series title. the cards will be going for their 11th. all right. it's monday morning. a special treat for everybody to start the week. rob marciano is here with us in the studio with a look at the weather. good morning. >> good morning. i flew all the way up here to congratulate carol on her detroit tigers win and lo and behold this weekend it didn't happen. >> cousin rudy's wedding. >> oh, yeah, that, too. listen, we have something

brewing in the tropics believe it or not. the end of tropical season. not until after thanksgiving. so we've got to deal with this bugger, which is just to the northeast of the yucatan peninsula developing regardless what happens with this, a decent amount of moisture. flying hurricane hunter aircraft. a decent chance of becoming the next tropical depression or storm. this would be rena. posted for parts of the southern tip of florida, warnings because tremendous amounts of rain already falling. two to six inches potentially and gusting winds out of the east and southeast and seeing rip currents. radar. you can see already heavy rain and a very dense shield of moisture. this will rotate up in through tampa and jacksonville and regardless how much the storm develops as far as moisture, into the mid-atlantic and up through the northeast as well. speaking of the northeast, a rotation around a cold core

vortex across northeastern canada ushering in the very fall-like weather in the northeast the past couple of days. it continues. a couple sprinkles. the wind, the issue with that. rains causing delays across parts of the southern tip of florida. a list of travel delays throughout the day today. nothing too major expected. just kind of watching this thing develop across parts of the southern gulf of mexico, and how long is carol off for? >> she's on her way to las vegas for the debate. >> right, right, right. convenient timing for that. >> this isn't a depression day. >> no. a day off. i took weren't of those when the yankees lost. >> trying on a red eye. hiding tears underneath her $5 blanket. >> great to see you both. >> good to see you, rob. still ahead on "american morning," one of america's most beloved g-rated programs. that's right. "sesame street" just got hacked

with some x rated content. we'll explain. plus what the apple co-founder was working on just before his death. steve jobs. it's 23 after the hour. (announcer) everything you need to stay balanced on long trips. residence inn. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪

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and welcome back. "minding your business" this morning, markets are on track to pick up where they left af last week pap good thing. stock futures trading higher this morning. you remember a few weeks ago we were talking about the markets teeters close to a bear market. this morning the dow is 350 points from the 12,000 mark. today also investors turn their attention to key earning reports. ibm releases its report after the closing bell. uncle sam is looking into google's finances. the irs is investigating google for avoiding taxes by shifting profits overseas. a spokesman for google says the investigation is just a "routine inquiry." one of the biggest energy deals in history. kirnd morgan agreed to buy el

paso for about $2 million. they own about 80,000 miles of natural gas pipeline. the deal could mean higher transportation costs, which could result in higher gas prices. when was the last time you checked your credit reported? you know it's something you can do for free, annual celled it report dotcom for free. don't have to pay. according to a new study by visa, 20% of people have never bothered to check their score causing them thousands of higher in interest payments. and ckodak bringing laser technology to a number of imax theaters. a boost for kodak which struggled in recent years from film to digital cameras. "american morning" will be right back after this break. [ horn honks ]

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welcome back to "american morning." it's 30 minutes after the hour. your top stories now. the racing world stunned this morning after a fiery 15-car crash ta claimed the life of indycar champion dan wheldon. wheldon was this year's indianapolis 500 winner. he was a father of two and just 33 years old. the missouri national guard lending a hand sunday in the search for a missing baby girl in kansas city. 11-month-old lisa irwin disappeared from her home two weeks ago. no suspects, no real leads. a $100,000 reward is being offered for baby lisa's safe return. hard to believe, but the occupy wall street movement is now entering its second month in the rally against corporate greed has gone global. protests over the weekend in a fub of european cities including rome, where the demonstrations took a violent turn after protesters torched cars, buildings and smashed windows. all right. back to our top story this morning. the tragedy on the racetrack in

las vegas. indycar champion dan wheldon died after a terrible, a terrible 15-car crash. >> he joined us after his thrilling indianapolis 500 victory back in may and talked about the intensity on the track. >> it's incredibly intense around this racetrack. we're doing speeds in excess of 220 miles an hour, and with this race you just never know what can happen. so it's about staying focused, and you really don't ever let off the power unless you have to, and you know, that's what i wanted to do yesterday, and that's what i did, and fortunately i was able to drink milk in victory lane. >> you see how young he is. just 33 years old. joining us, senior writer for "sports illustrated" knows a thing or two about this. a lot of time us see this happen towards the end of the race but this was five minutes in. what does that say to you about what happened here? >> the timing is interesting. this is not a large track.

not a track often used for indycar racing. 34 cars in the field. you watch the video, early. not as though it's driver fatigue. you see how close the cars are to each other and this is 221 miles an hour and literally inches between the cars. this video is just horrible. >> his car was flying. other cars airborne as well. kind of a mess to try to figure what happened, the chain reaction, but what happened? as we pick it apart, what happened there? >> well, he's in the back, going for this prize. starting in the back of the field and actually made progress early. looks to me as though he couldn't stop. look how close the cars are bunched together. 220 miles an hour. inches separating them. >> you can see the accident at the front. he's not even in the picture. there's an accident happening in the front. there he is isolated. >> you can't stop this. >> coming through there. he goes airborne over that group. also video of another car. car 21. not sure. that car, the video on's top of

that car shows it flying through this field of debris and this yellow flame. i mean, it's just frightening for all of these drivers. >> it is. you know, this is a sport predicated on speed and there are a lot of safety channels built in. the fact of the matter is you're dealing with very, very fast automobiles. they're not heavy cars. atmospheric conditions and a formula one death in the -- >> talk more about that. seven deaths in this type of racing since 1996. put it into perspective. just how dangerous is this sport? >> yeah. i mean, these are coming at various tiers. so let's be clear. this isn't out of the 34-person field, but at the same time, this is unfortunately, assumption of the risk when you get into one of those race cars and speeds, most can't conceptualize. three times faster than we're going when speeding on the highway. they're very skilled drivers and safety mechanisms are built in, flame retardant material.

we saw the most skilled drivers at those speeds, unfortunately like this, accidents can happen. >> he had a very promising career. supposed to sign a deal to replace danica patrick next season in the godaddy sponsored car. he had a brilliant future. it's so so sad to see such a young career end like this. >> this is the indy 500. you're right. this is really going to be the face of indycar racing. danica patrick is going to nascar and the context of this is sort of interesting, too, where indycar racing is fighting for some relevance. they're going against the stock car racing which has gotten more popular lately, and he is really going to be the centerpiece of this sport, and the question obviously, secondary to mourning this awful loss, the question where -- >> showing him with his 2-year-old son sebastian. >> two young boys. tragic. >> talk about that. we were speaking about this during the break. i think back to my childhood and watching these races from time to time. there were so many household

names in indycar racing. and that's just not the case anymore. right? >> yeah. auto racing overall is quite popular. it's global. no. nascar in terms of relevancy in the united states has overtaken indycar racing. this is the kind of charismatic figure from great britain. some global appeal built in. the magnetic figure to take the sport to new places. >> in fact, he been involved in a promotion whereby he would start last in the race and divide the $5 million purse, had he won. which i had said earlier speaks a lot to his character and just what kind of man he was. he really was beloved by the indy community. wasn't he? >> he was. i remember when he came to your show and talked to you. more interested in promoting aults alzheimer's than celebrating his victory. you could tell by the reaction of the other drive, and fans, this was really a special driver in the sport and, again, what can you say? it's just tragic. >> hmm. all right. senior writer, "sports

illustrated," thanks for joining us this morning. three people arrested in philadelphia for allegedly holding four mentally disabled adults captive in the basement of an apartment building. the suspect face multiple charges including kidnapping. police say they were stealing the victim' social security checks. the building's landlord found them locked in a 10x15 foot room, malnourished and with a day or two of dying. the four adults were taken from texas to west palm beach, florida, before arriving in philadelphia earlier this month. the swap of one israeli soldier for more than 1,000 palestinian prisoners is being challenged in israel's top court. the supreme court. families petitioned the court to stop the exchange claims the price for the soldier's freedom is just too high. the vatican saying there is no concern for pope benedict's health after he was wheeled upa the basilica on a mobile

platform. officials saying they didn't want limb to get tired. kids as young as 4 can be diagnosed and given medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. new guidelines from the american academy of pediatrics are defined to identify this sooner and increase chances of succeeding in school. critics say adhd is already overdiagnosed. taken off-line, sesame street, after being hit by hackers. they saw pornographic videos instead of clips from the kids' show. no comment yet and -- steve jobs ending with a line, one more thing. turns out his final thing may be the iphone 5. he dedicated all time to the iphone expected to be released sometime next year. cnn reports the new phone will be a complete redesign both on the inside and the outside.

>> so nice. one of the best stories i've heard all morning. you know what? so many people were lined up for the 4s, which some affectionately called "for steve." they thought that was the last phone. nice to know one more is coming. >> his autobiography is coming out. a lot of people talking about getting a glimpse into him and what he says about his last creations as well. >> we look forward to that, too. herman cain, firing up his base and having to walk back comments he says were a joke about illegal immigrants and a deadly fence. and the four retired space shuttles are headed to new homes. there is controversy over how the homes were chosen. find out why one texas lawmakers believes his state is the victim of a bait and switch bid by new york. 35 minutes after the hour.

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and welcome back to "american morning." his tough-talking no nonsense style has made herman cain a rising star of the republican party and with that comes, oh, yes, scrutiny. the georgia businessman is finding out in politics, it pays to be careful. listen to what he said in tennessee on saturday about keeping out illegal immigrants. >> when i'm in charge of the fence we're going to have a fence. 25 feet high with barbed wire on

the top. it's going to be electrocuted, electrified and a sign on the other side that will say, "it will kill you ". >> my goodness. cain did seem serious but quickly retreated from those remarks sundays were he made an appearance on nbc's "meet the press." >> that's a joke, david. that's a joke. >> not a serious plan. >> not a serious plan. >> you got a big laugh, but that's not -- >> that's a joke. i've also said america needs to get a sense of humor. >> all right. the trouble is, cain's done this before. first dropping the bombshell, then walking it back. >> you upped the ante with "a 20-foot barbed wire electrified fence." can you america's got to learno take a joke. herman cain's 999 tax plan has taken a few hits. >> especially after making a

surprising admission about the proposal yesterday on cnn. here's deputy political director paul steinhauser. >> reporter: good morning. it wasn't just board of security putting herman cain early in the spotlight this weekend. take a listen to what he said on the sunday talk shows about his 999 tax plan. >> some people will pay more, but most people will pay less is my argument. >> reporter: cain's tax plan has gotten him a lot of attention, some rivals are starting to criticize him over the plan. look at newt gingrich with candy crowley. >> as people look at 99 and dising a grow gate it, it gets to be a harder sale i think. >> reporter: the plan is one of the reasons he's been jumping in the polls nationally and in the state polls. but when you jump in the polls it brings more scrutiny. we're seeing that now with herman cain. expect to see more of that here at the venetian in vase laying is when cain and six other presidential candidates team up

at our cnn western republican presidential debate. christine, alina. >> all the big guns are there. where carol is going. watch cnn tomorrow night for the western republican presidential debate live from las vegas at 8:00 eastern. carol is attending and will have all the al analysis. >> and "saturday night live" had a little fun with herman cain's 999 plan. heard are 333? we'll show you coming up. the state of texas gets shut out. one lawmaker from the lone star state says the bidding should be reopened, because you know what? new york didn't play fair nap for you, 46 after the hour.

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47 minutes past hour. what you need to know to start your day. the racing world mourning the death of indycar wheldon. a father of two and just 33 years old. the occupy wall street protest is entering its 31st day here in new york city. a number of rallies held over the weekend in cities across the country and the world. most of the protests were peaceful, but not all. in kansas city, the search continues for 11-month-old lisa irwin. the baby's been missing two weeks now. members of the missouri national guard helped local and federal

law enforcement in the search on sunday. larry hagman is battling cancer. the 80-year-old actor isn't saying what type of cancer, but that it's very common and treatable. bet known for playing oil baran j.r. ewing in "dallas" and astronaut nelson in "i dream of genie." president obama makes stops in virginia. he's on a bus tour. and headed to the world series. beating the brewers and advancing, the cardinals. their 18th trip to the fall classic. they'll play the rangers. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after this.

were back to "american morning." you hear it a lot in the lone star state. don't mess with texas. these day, texans are feeling like they've been messed with big time. >> right. lawmakers calling for nasa -- nasa -- to re-evaluate its plans to give a retired space shuttle to new york. i want to know why new york got it anyway. anyway, john zarrella is watching it all for us, live in miami. they're hopping mad in texas. aren't they, john? >> reporter: yeah, alina. if you can figure out why they got it you might want to pass it on to the texans as well. you know, they have been angry ever since the day that nasa awarded a space shuttle to new york, and now they're less happy than before.

there were only four retired space shuttles available. coveted. the holy grails of space flight. >> the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time. >> reporter: even as a cost of nearly $30 million apiece, dozens of museums bid. new york's intrepid sierra space museum on the hudson river was one of the winners. it gets "enterprise" a test shuttle, never flew into space, is currently at the smithsonian. but folks in texas, home of the johnson center, never happy they got a shuttle and they didn't are crying foul again. you bet we are says this senator. >> it is a bait and switch. >> reporter: well, let's rewind. may of 2010. before the shuttles were awarded. here's what the intrepid museum's executive director told us. >> on the west end of the pier we have the concord and look to shift the placement of the

concord and place the shuttle in that spot. >> reporter: but the plan now, construct a building, not on the end of the pier, but over here, on the other side of the busy highway, on land that's now a parking lot. land they don't yet own. next to a car wash, bagel shop and warehouses. museum officials so willing to talk before they were selected wouldn't talk with us now. they issued a statement saying in part, while we continue to be in the planning stages, we remain on track with both our logistics and our fund-raising. he's got plenty to say. >> new york, god bless them. wonderful city, but certainly no connection to the space program or nasa. why would the shuttle go to new york? it's like putting the statue of liberty in omaha. >> reporter: he wants bidding reopened. nasa on the other hand is satisfied with intrepid's new plan. >> i don't tell them how to suck eggs. they gave us a plan. they told us they would have the

money. they gave us a schedule and everything and as far as i know, they're on schedule, and so i trust them that they're going to deliver what they said. >> reporter: but texans say they have the history. the first words uttered when man landed on the moon. not new york but -- >> there's been the eagle has landed. >> reporter: now, none of the shuttles will be on display for at least another year. the smithsonian gets "discovery." "endeavour" out to california and the kennedy space center in florida will get the shuttle "atlantis." alina, christine? >> houston, we have a controversy. >> reporter: yeah. >> so that's interesting to me, because there is no nasa tie to, you know, the intrepid air and space museum here. so houston doesn't have a shuttle. it -- its shuttle is, it's integral tore houston but it's

not going to happen? >> reporter: exactly. that's what the argument was right along. florida and texas have the largest ties, the biggest ties without question, to the space program. but new york, the feeling was, was going to bring far more tourists to see the shuttle than if they had put a shuttle in texas. >> and new yorkers on the way to get a bagel before work. you know? >> or get their car washed. >> i mean -- geez. all right. >> love this story. let us know how it all shakes out there, john. thank you very much. >> reporter: i will. sure. a bump in the polls. get "snl's" attention. herman cain got the front-runner's treatment this weekend. take a look. >> if america is looking for solutions to problems, herman cain will keep them coming. how to fight terrorism. my 555 plan. for every terrorism america will sent five airplanes, five soldiers and five of those dogs that caught osama bin laden. how do we fix health care?

the 333 plan. three pills, three days off and three chicken noodle soups. >> always count on "snl." >> a sign of success when "snl" spoofs you. that's a sign of success. >> true. ask our wolf blitzer. >> that's right. occupy wall street protests spreading around the world this weekend. still growing. will it be able to transform into something bigger? like a major political force? we'll talk more about that. it's 56 minutes after the hour. state farm. this is jessica.

hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state.

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speed that kills. an indycar champion dies after tires touch and cars fly into the air at over 200 miles an hour. we will speak to a driver who knew him. where is baby lease dia the

nation lisa. the national guard joins in in the search for the 11 week old baby. a reward being offered for her return. and unrest. occupy wall street turns one month old. from that pizza guy at the bottom of the polls to gop font runner. a look at the surging candidate herman cain. can he ride 999 to the nomination on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, everyone. it's monday, october 17th. ali is off. carol is on assignment, on her way to las vegas for the big debate. alina sho joins us. >> good morning, chis tooristin. dan wheldon died. it happened yesterday in las vegas. indycar going into the off-season with a horrible reminder how fragile life can be and just how dangerous the sport

is. our carlos diaz has new details from las vegas. >> reporter: fans from indianapolis to here in las vegas to all over the world are still shocked this morning at the death of one of the most famous indycar racers today dan wheldon. dan wheldon passed away right here in turn two after a massive pileup crash you just saw. airlifted to a hospital. one of the most successful drivers on the circuit won the indianapolis 500 this year and now is remembered for all of the things he's done. dan wheldon said before this race it was going to be very intense. >> it's incredibly intense around this racetrack. we're doing speeds in excess of 225 miles an hour. with this race, you never know what's going to happen. it's about staying focused and you really don't ever let off the power unless you have to. >> reporter: the las vegas motor

speedway is a mile and a half oval. to put things in perspective, the indianapolis motor species wa is 2.5 miles. a much smaller track and much higher bank turns here at the las vegas motor speedway. when you have a number of cars going 220 miles an hour, some bad things are likely to happen, and that's what happened here yesterday. a horrific crash. one that danica patrick said was one of the worst she's seen in all of her years of racing. once again, fans mourning all over the world. fan reaction all morning long, and i knew dan wheldon as a person. i'll be telling you stories all morning long about dan wheldon, the father, dan wheldon the husband, and dan wheldon the champion, coming up all morning. alina and christine? >> carlos diaz, thank very much. coming up at 7:30 eastern time we'll speak to former indycar driver lyn st. james. she knew dan wheldon and witnessed tragedy at 220 miles

per hour many times before. other our big story, images of protests against wall street, big banks and corporations coming from a all over the world. the movement is a month old. most are peaceful, yesterday 19 were arrested including cornell west after he refused to leave the steps of the u.s. supreme court. twitter says he's been ordered to appear in court this afternoon. [ chanting ] leer in new yo here in new york, thousands in times square. 70 arrested. last night, 14 more. handcuffed for violating a curfew in the park. and costing $1.4 million in rome to clean up after rioters shattered store windows and set businesses and cars on fire. police officers were among the injured. and the movement against corporate greed spreading as far as the alaskan tundra.

look at this. a woman named diane took this picture and posted it on the occupy wall street facebook. the image shared more than 5,000 times. now to the search for a missing baby in kansas city, missouri. the national guard lending a hand yesterday in the search for 11-month-old lisa irwin who disappeared from her home two weeks ago. a big reward is offered for the baby's safe return. cnn's jim spellman is following developments and live in kansas city. good morning, jim. so profoundly troubling about this case, it feels as if they're not making any progress now. the baby's gone. they think that maybe the baby had been taken out through a window. is there any ground being covered here? >> reporter: that's right, christine. that's the frustrating thing for investigators and for everybody hoping for a safe return of baby lisa. two weeks ago around 10:30 at night. the mother, deborah bradley, says was the last time she saw

baby lisa. 4:30 a.m., the father comes home from working the nightshift. baby's gone. they call police. the search begins. they've interviewed the family. anybody they thought might have any information and nothing seems to be leading anywhere. that's why they decided to get fresh eyes on the case and brought in this national guard unit. 25 people specially trained military police officers to go through some of the areas they'd already searched before hoping that they can generate any clue to start to make progress. they join the fbi in that investigation. here's what the fbi told us yesterday. >> what we're looking at here is we have searched this area. we have new people out here, fresh eyes looking at the area that we've already searched. you know, definitely being thorough, doing our do diligence and making sure we have fresh eyes out there. maybe there's something we didn't see the first time we searched it. >> reporter: i got a chance to go into the woods after they cleated their search.

really tough work. thick vines. they went over this inch by inch trying to find any new clues. no indication that they got anything there. i think they're right back where they were before the weekend trying to just generate anything that will lead to clues and hopefully find baby lisa. christine? >> any resuspects in this case? the parents stopped talking to investigators because the interrogations were so intense. but they have never named the parents or anybody else for that matter? >> reporter: they haven't. the police are being very circumspect. not saying a lot about that angle and allegations with the family, where that might be going. a homeless man was seen in the weekend. arrested over the weekend on an unrelated warrant. every time a lead pops up, seems they clear it and are back to square one. christine? >> jim spellman in kansas city, thanks. >> baffling case. three people arrested in

philadelphia for allegedly holding four mentally ill adults captive in the basement of an apartment building. the suspects face multiple charges including kidnapping. police say they were out to steal the victims' social security check, and that's why they were being held. the building's landlord found them locked in a 10x15 foot room on saturday malnourished and with a day or two of dying. it is believed the four adults were taken from texas to west paul beach, florida, before arriving in philadelphia earlier ins month. later this morning, giordano trying to win release from prison. the suspect in the disappearance of his travel companion, a woman named robyn gardner. his lawyer saying there's not enough evidence to hold him. his lawyer says he was snorkeling when she disappeared. and michael jackson's

doctor's trial on hold. the involuntary manslaughter case against dr. conrad murray is expected to go to the jury early next week. president obama hits the road again today. his three-day bus trip, part of an effort to get congress to pass elements of his jobs bill after being defeated in the senate last week. the president will make several stops in north carolina and virginia. and las vegas is the setting and the economy is likely to dominate the conversation during tomorrow night's cnn western republican debate. nevada always a critical state in the presidential election. this time though, the unemployment rate is 13.4%. the highest in the country. and the home foreclosure rate in nevada is also the worst in the nation. tomorrow night cnn will host the cnn presidential debate in las vegas. anderson cooper moderates and carol costello will attend and have analysis after for us. and 48 years later, a

stone's throw from where dr. martin luther king jr. deliverrd his famous "i have a dream" speech, a monument stands in his honor. 30 feet high. the mlk memorial dedicated on washington's national mall yesterday. president obama urged americans to live dr. king's ideals. >> that is why we honor this man, because he had faith in us. that is why he belongs on this mall, because he saw what we might become. >> this is a day that all americans can be proud of, and may i remind thaw this is not just a celebration for african-americans, but for americans and citizens around this world. >> the ceremony honoring dr. king was originally scheduled for august but was postponed because of hurricane irene. still to come this morning a key part of the president's

health care reform bill has suddenly been scrapped. the white house said it would have been too costly. how the change will impact you, ahead. plus, it's said to be the project that steve jobs focused his final efforts on. we'll tell what you that is and when it's rumored to hit the store shelves. and the world series is set and a team that pulled off a miracle to even make the playoffs will be there. you're watching "american morning." it's ten minutes after the hour. the postal service is critical to our economy-- delivering mail, medicine and packages.

yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it.

welcome back to "american morning." the obama administration is dropping a key mishtiinitiativee it gets off the ground. supposed to help people pay for long-term medical care in their home or in a nursing home. >> now the administration says it will be too expensive and unwieldy to actually implement. let's bring in medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. this was a lifelong dream of ted

kennedy. part of what he wanted health care to have. a way to save money so your family isn't burdened longer term about the very high cost of long-term care. how was this long-term insurance plan supposed to work? >> a dream for many people. one of the most insurmountable problems in health care in this country today. y work hard all your life, save money and end up in a nursing home and the costs are devastating, unless you're basically a multibillionaire. take a look at these costs. they will make your jaw drop. a year in a nursing home in this country on average costs $75,000 a year. who can afford that? a year of home health care, having people come to your home and take care of you, $18,000 a year. christine, the kicker. most don't know this. medicare doesn't pay. oh, medicare will pay that. i'll over 65. medicare does not pay for long-term care. and medicaid only pays if you are poor.

so the theory here was that while you were working you would pay, say, $200, $300, $400 a month for the insurance and it would kick in once you were older. >> problem is, they found that -- they didn't think enough young, healthy people would voluntarily sign up to take money out of their paycheck to fund this because they didn't think they'd be able to get this thing funded the right way and interesting as well, the number you show, about $75,000 a year, depending on the nursy facility it is, that's with a roommate. not with a private room. >> right. not fancy. >> if you want -- right. it's really tough and most families don't have enough money. so what's the political fallout been so far? >> republicans are saying, i told you so. republicans are saying, we knew this would never work. we knew young people weren't going to take $300, $400 out of their pay clek check for someth they might need. most will, but not everything.

aarp is urging the administration to try again. our best bet for making this work, let's keep going, keep at it. the administration basically said, no. we're done. >> can they do that? because it is law. it is law, the class act, what it's called, and part ever the health care reform law. can the administration decide what parts of law it can and cannot implement? >> an interesting question and i think what they can do is look at things and see if something is financially not feasible, and say, look. let's say someone did sign up for this. say we said, yeah, we're going to go for this. what happened is, ten years from now, no money for these people. you don't want to start a program and have people pay in now so ten years later you can say, sorry. you ran out of money. >> it open as broader discussion we should continue to have about long-term care, how to pay for it. a lot of people were get that through their companies. the older and less healthy, the more expensive to get long-term

care and facing a tsunami you people who are growing older who have all kinds of illnesses and care needs, and we don't have the money and we don't have the infrastructure, really, to take care of it. >> right. christine, a perfect storm in a terrible way. more and more people living into their 80s and 90s and beyond and more medical care. these people are living longer. all of us are living longer and we have all of the expense of medical care, and how are we going to pay for this? you can work hard all your life. save all your life, and you can still be in huge trouble when you need this kind of care. >> in your book you have a lot of interesting stuff. in my book about money and family, the average family spends $5,500 per elderly or disabled relative out of their own pockets, because this is a family issue. this is not just the person who needs the care. the whole family usually steps in. that's what this class act was supposed to help. save for those eventualities.

liz cohen, thanks so much. nice to see you this morning. >> thanks. gunfire and explosions rocking the capital of yemen overnight. witnesses say government security forces continue to battle opposition troops. earlier sunday yemeni soldiers opened fire on demonstrators gathering for a march in the capital. five killed. 54 others injured according to one medic on the scene. piles of trash littering the streets of athens, greece. the city's garbage corresrbage joined the strikes. the city is prepared to bring in private sanitation workers to clean up the mess. steve jobs. famous for ending apple events with a line, one more thing. turns out, there is one more thing. his final thing may be something called the iphone 5. the iphone 4s just came out. reporting jobs dedicated all of his time to the new iphone expected to hit stores sometime next year. the new phone, of course, will

be a complete redesign, but iot the inside and outside. ed world series is set. the cards winning the national league pennant stomping the brewers in game six. final score of 12-6. a little more than a month ago, cardinals trailed by more than ten games in the race for the playoffs. the rangers put away the tigers -- poor carol" game six. the rangers second straight world series appearance going for their first world title. the cardinals going for their 11th. >> rob marciano hasn't watched baseball in months -- since the yankees were done. >> season's over. >> you were here in town. >> you don't have it try. maybe i would have wore a texas hat, maybe, for carol, but she's not here. obviously on assignment. but you know, that's going to be a series for sure. cards and rangers. >> what's going on in the weather department? >> are we doing weather? thought we were leer to talk

about sports. tropical storms. still in hurricane season. lasts through november. after lee, we had a little bit of a respite, ophelia. then felipe, didn't do a whole lot. could be our next storm, if it develops, could be named rena. this late in the season, strong upper level winds. this may be picked up rapidly. doesn't matter, though, about the winds. it's going to be the rain, i think, with this thing. flying hurricane aircraft into it most likely to see if it will develop into a depression or tropical storm. two to four inches of rainfall potentially with this across parts of southern florida, already seeing gusting winds. rip currents an issue. flash flood watches posted for the southern tip of florida and then regardless how this storm develops, it will be picked up into the jet stream and rolled up the northeastern seaboard and we go through time. already radar is filling in across parts of florida. a little rain across the northeast. mostly just unsettled weather

across parts of upstate new york in through eastern new england. mostly gusty winds. you felt the fall air this weekend. we'll get more today and through tomorrow. meanwhile, hot and record-breaking temperatures across the southern plains. the winds the issue as far as travel delays. should see a tremendous amount. maybe an hour or less in some of the spots there. across the northeast in through chicago and boston and some travel delays across parts of miami as well. >> happy monday. >> good to see you guys. >> nice to see you as well. come up more often. >> you mean? or just saying that? >> no. you're up here for a weddy? >> cousin rudy got married. quite the party saturday night. still to come, herman cain making a strong run for the republican nomination, but how much do we really know about the georgia businessman? cnn will take you in-depth next. and if you haven't looked into refinancing your mortgage, we'll tell you why now just might be the ideal time. it's 21 minutes after the hour.

were back. "minding your business" this morning. markets on track to pick up

where they left off last week. stock futures frayeding higher this morning. remember a few weeks ago talking about it's markets teeters close a bear market? this morning the dow is already at 350 points from the 12,000 mark pap pretty good run here lately. uncle sam reportedly is looking into google's finances. according to bloomberg news, the irs is investigating google for avoiding taxes by shifting profits overseas. a spokesman for google says the investigation is "a routine inquiry." and kinder morgan has agreed to buy el paso corporation for $21 billion. the two companies own about 80,000 miles of international gas pipeline. experts say the deal could mean higher transport fees which could result in higher gas prices. when was the last time you checked your credit report? you know it's something you can do for free. right? once a year at annual credit report dotcom. it's free. according to a new study by visa, though, 42% of people have

never bothered to check their score and that could cost them thousands of dollars in higher interest payments. you'll soon be warned the next time you're about to exceed your monthly talk, text or data plans, a deal expected to be announced today. under the agreement wireless carriers will either text or call you to let you know when you're about to be hit with overage charges. and imax movies are about to get brighter. kodak inked a deal to bring its laser projection technology to a number of imax theaters. the agreement is a boost for kodak, which struggled in recent years as consumers switch from traditional film to digital cameras. don't forget, for the latest news about your money check out the all-new cnnmoney.com. "american morning" will be right back after this break.

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suspect is under arrest after a boston apartment complex went up in flames early this morning. more than dozen people injured including two firefighters and a police officer. the boston fire department says 25 apartments have been affected, but it's not clear how many people were inside of them. a horrifying discovery in the subbasement of a philadelphia apartment building. three suspects charged with locking four mentally ill adults in a 10x15 foot room for up to a week. police say they were stealing the victims' social security checks. the building's landlord found

the four captive malnourished saturday and with a day or two of death. the racing world stunned this morning after a fiery 15-car wreck that claimed the life of indycar champion dan wheldon. emotional drivers returned to the track for a five-lap tribute plep was this year's indianapolis 500 winner, the father of two and just 33 years old. dan wheldon was our guest back in may after his victory and talk and the intensity of the race and the pressure to push your machine to the limit. >> it's incredibly intense around this racetrack. we're doing speeds in excess of 225 miles an hour and with this race you just never know what can happen. so it's about staying focused and you really don't ever let off the power unless you have to, and you know, that's what i wanted to do yesterday, and that's what i did and fortunately i was able to drink milk in victory lane. >> unbelievable. so young. just 33 years old.

joining us now, former indycar driver lyn st. james joining us from phoenix. good morning and thank you so much for waking up and joining us. you are a seven time indy 500 racer. 1992, rookie of the year. locked a lot of time on the track. have you ever seen a pileup like this? 15 cars, and what actually went wrong? >> i'm making at analogy, the perfect storm. everything that happened that came together you know, caused the result, which was that crash and unfortunately the death of dan. no one thing actually caused it. the configuration of the track, 34 cars starting on a 1.5 mile track at those speeds. so, you know, all of that combined and having a driver start at the back that is a champion that really wanted to have a great show. so all of those elements coming together i think just was like the perfect storm and it was unfortunate, it was tragic, and it was just something that we

all wished would never have happened. >> and it happened so early in the race. just five minutes into the race. usually you see these things happen towards the end. now, having said that i want to talk a little more about something you mentioned. 34 cars on the track. a mile and a half track, a very small track yet a lot of cars. some say they believe there were too many cars on that track. do you believe that? >> well, i don't necessarily believe that. i mean, i think 33 -- we run 33 in indy, but that is a 2.5 mile track, it's a mile longer. it's more the configuration, that you've got really, really wide racetrack with a 20 degrees of banking in the turns, 9 degrees banking on the straightaway. the momentum for all cars to go flat out. that really takes the car out of the driver's hands. so i don't think it was the number of cars necessarily. it was just the fact that it was the speeds and configuration. again, the combination. we can't pick out one thing. people would love to be able to

find something to blame it on and it isn't just one thing. >> you've spent a lot of time talking to people in the indycar community. how is everyone coping this morning? >> well, it's really stunned everybody. i don't think i've seen such an outpouring of this type of a loss from so many different factors. dan came over years ago as a young brash kid from england and we watched him mature into being this absolute consulate professional. he drove for a number of different teams. so he had friends, from competitor, the crews, the team owners, sponsors. everybody. he touched so many people, and so i think they've cancelled the championship year-end banquet. they did that five-lap tribute, which i think was really appropriate. so it has touched so many people with our sport and i think it shocked a lot of people and i think it's going to raise that sort of, all who thought it was important to have safety, it's even going to raise the bar for everybody to pay more attention about what we can do to continue

to make our sport safer. it a always going to be a high-risk, dangerous sport. we fwhoe that. the people in the sport know that, but we don't want this kind of thing to happen. >> you speak a lot, and train a lot of up and coming young undy car drivers and talk a lot about the dangers of driving a car this fast. don't you? >> well, i do, because today young people are starting at 6, 7, 8, 9 years old racing midgets, go-karts, everybody's having a good tile. families are out there and i certainly support that. it's a great sport. it encourages teamwork. you learn so much about yourself, but there is the risk attached to it. so until you've actually seen a loss like this, and this will be a learning experience even for young drivers that are just sitting there watching it, i have a young driver that i knew that perilled in 1991 and i use that as an example for our young drivers. if you can't reconcile this could happen to you, or parents reconcile this could happen to their kids, they shouldn't be in

the sport. pursue something else. if you can reconcile, which i did years ago, the love the sport and can reconcile this could happen, then you're in it and -- everybody in this sport really recognizes that. you don't want it to happen, but realize it can. >> it's clear that dan wheldon loved the sport. i remember when he spoke to him just after he won the indy 500, he was racing to raise awareness for alzheimer's disease because his mother had recently been diagnosed and also just in this last race, he was part of this promotion's deal whereby he would be the last to start and if he won, he would have split the $5 million purse with a fan, and i've been saying that that really speaks to his character. i mean, isn't that why we have seen such an outpouring? just people, drivers in tears about this. i mean, he really was beloved. wasn't he? >> he was. and he touched everybody that he was, came in contact with or even from the fans.

he was really a very, very special guy. he was a really special guy, and you know, i think he had great dreams of what he still wanted to do, and at the same time at least i can reconcile the fact that he won the indianapolis 500 twice. my lasting memory will be him drinking that milk. i'm so glad, that visual, because, you know, sometimes we never get to realize our dreams and goals, and even though he didn't get them all done, at least he was able to accomplish those, and his legacy is how many people he touched that will remember him forever and for what he was, how he stood, and that's a great you know, sort of role model, again, for young drivers. >> two-time indy 500 winner and, of course, drinking milk for those who don't know at the end ever the race is a time honored tradition at theenedy 500 for the winner. lyn st. james, thank you for waking up and spending some time with us. >> thanks for bringing such attention to this so people know how important it is. >> thank you.

all right. his take no prisoners attitude and catchy tax plan have sure shaken things up in the republican party. you know who i'm talking about. herman cain, but who is he and can he hang around enough to win the republican nomination? what staying power does he have? cnn has more. it's 38 minutes after the hour. and people. and the planes can seem the same. so, it comes down to the people. because: bad weather, the price of oil those are every airline's reality. and solutions will not come from 500 tons of metal and a paintjob. they'll come from people. delta people. who made us the biggest airline in the world. and then decided that wasn't enough.

good morning, washington. it is mostly cloudy now. 59. sunny and 74 late other than today. a nice, crisp fall day warming up in the nation's capital later on. welcome back to "american morning." his blunt no nonsense style and his 999 plan have taken the republican party by storm. how much do we really know about herman cain and sdp he have the staying power to win his party's nomination? a terrific article was written about herman cain, david fromme, joining us live from the nation's capital this morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> does he have staying power? >> he's got a lot -- herman cain has a lot of abilities, a lot to like, a sense of humor.

he's got real charisma in a race that's been kind of lacking that. he's honed a kint of parental style on talk radio. the question that republicans have to contend with, does this man know what he's talking about? and are they prepared to put so near the presidency someone who really doesn't have a grip on the policy answers. there's a question. i mean, the style is no nonsense, but the problem is, there's a lot of nonsense in the content. >> is the republican establishment, if there is such a thing, are they surprised by how he's climbed up the ranks here? >> the biggest surprise of the past month has been the collapse of rick perry and displacement by herman cain. this may not be a permanent change, but if you were something looking for an alternative to mitt romney. i don't like the massachusetts health care plan, would like to see a more conservative contender. don't we have a governor that

can articulate that? rick perry was supposed to be that person. second biggest state in the country. longest serving governor in history. a man who supposedly never lost a race he ran in. put him on a national stage and he melted under the light. that created hands opportunity. cain's got a lot of perry's weaknesses but a much more appealing style. >> what most people know about herman cain, former ceo of godfather's pizza. says he's got a sense of humor and america needs to learn how to take a joke and he's got that tax plan. the 999 plan. tell me something i don't know about herman cain. >> that he was a former chairman of the board ever the federal bank of kansas city. perry was a serious business figure in the 1990s. and he was, went up to the ranks of the fast food industry. this, bought out this chain from its parent company and then became an important regional banker, but in the middle 1990s he changed careers and went from

the business world to the talk radio world. and that's where the style of this method came from and the kind of careful work he would have done as a 15-year younger person. you see it in his comfonfrontat bill clinton. on talk radio you don't need to do that. >> in your opinion piece on cnn, why herman cain can't be president. so that's where you're coming from. talk about his lack of experience in managing government and to some cain is like a ross perot who also didn't have that management experience but resonated. something about him resonated, but he also didn't win. >> obviously, herman cain has management experience, but in the private sector. managing a government agency is a different thing. one thing, you can't fire people. you have to learn how to manage, if you can't fire. that's one of the reasons a lot of business ceos don't do so well when they get into government. a special kind of thing.

somebody like rudy giuliani. ran for president in 2008. a very effective public administration figure in new york city. not clear he would do so well in the business world. they're different streams. normally, what we look for is, have you had a job as a governor? as a mayor? as a general? have you run a major public organization? and presidents tend to have had that experience. >> now the president we have right now, not him? >> as republican, exactly. that's the problem. don't repeat this mistake and make it bigger. so many of barack obama's problem, he has never run a public organization before. >> the president before that had a lot of experience, second biggest state in the country, spent two wars trying to get out of and also financial crisis. you could pick your lane, if you want to make that argument. >> you can. but people -- people usually react against the predecessor. this is doubling down on the predecessor. >> listen quickly to sound about cain's tax plan.

on the other side, i want you to tell me if there's anything at all not to be made fun of in the 999. so listen. >> when you take the 999 plan and you turn it upside-down, i think the devil's in the details. >> i think it's a catchy phrase, in fact, i thought it was the price of a pizza had i first heard it. >> if america's looking for catchy unworkable solutions to complicated problems, herman cain will keep them coming. how do we fix health care? the 333 plan. every time you get sick, three pills, three days off and three chicken noodle soups. >> america wants simpler tax plans, get one and say, that's too simple. >> inside this idea is an interesting concept. that probably is in america's future flap is, that you rely less on the corporate income tax and you rely more on a kind of value added tax, like they have in europe. a lot of economists say if you

moved in that direction you would increase national savings, increase national productivity and also, by the way, decrease consumption, excess consumption got us into so much trouble. cain's only particular math doesn't really work, because it probably won't add up to three digits exactly the same, if you do this rice, but there's something there. people understand, it's tough medicine, because america does not have a national sales tax now. value added tax would really change the experience of life for a lot of people, but it has to be int graegrated into state sales taxes. very difficult to do and doing it, corporate income taxes, good idea from an economic point of view. politically, a tougher sell. >> david frum. cain has returned my call for comments on the 999 plan. an economist joke. david frum, thanks. talk to you soon. read his opinion piece on cane caine find it at cnnmoney.com.

watch cnn tomorrow night at candidates gather in las vegas for the western republican presidential debate. cnn live tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. anderson cooper moderates and carol will be there for all the morning after analysis. just ahead on "american morning," sesame street, youtube channel taken off-line after being hacked. it's true. you won't believe what was streaming in its place. could have been brought to you by the letter x. now, that's the hint. and another hint. today's "romans' numeral," 7 $74,825. here's the hint. why it's so important to save a plan for your retirement. an annual cost that won't be covered by medicare. 48 minutes after the hour. ♪

[ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. i was 18 years old before i had my first fresh bun. the invention that i came up with is the hot dog ez bun steamer. steam is the key to a great hot dog. i knew it was going to be a success. the invention was so simple that i knew i needed to protect it. my name is chris schutte and i got my patent, trademark and llc on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see...south western vegetables...60 calories. ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup. so you were checking me out? yup. [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. wall street may not be on track to extend last week's rally. right now, u.s. stock features are trading higher. the gains fueled in part by optimism that europe is getting a better handle on its debt

crisis. president obama kicks off a three-day bus trip this morning as part of an effort to push lawmakers to pass his jobs bill. the president will make stops in north carolina and virginia. the occupy wall street protest is now entering its 35th day here in new york city. there were a number of rallies held over the weekend in cities across the country and in the world. most of the protests but not all were peaceful. the racing world mourning the death of indycar champion dan wheldon. wheldon was killed in a fiery 15-car wreck on the track in las vegas. he was a father of two and just 33 years old. "sesame street" shocker. the show's youtube page had to be taken offline after it was hacked. the content was replaced with, you guessed it, pornographic videos. and the st. louis cardinals are heading to the world series. they won game six, beating the milwaukee brewers 12-6 last night to advance. it's their 18th trip to the fall classic, and they will play the texas rangers.

that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after a break. ♪ kingdoms and queens ♪ they all bow down to you ♪ ♪ branches and ranch hands ♪ are bowin', too ♪ and i've taken off... [ man ] we could have gone a more traditional route... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪ here comes the sun again your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger...

look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. good morning, new york city. it's cloudy and 56 right now. it will creep higher when the sun comes out. 67 degrees later on. this morning's "romans' numeral," the number is 74,825. and that's not a one-time cost. that's an annual cost, the price of one year in a nursing home. and that's not private. that's with a shared room. you can remember friday the obama administration dropped part of its health care plan that was designed to help

families with the rising cost of long-term care. workers would have paid about $100 a month into the program and in exchange received financial assistance if they became disabled later in life or needed help in old age. critics argued that the plan was too expensive. without this plan, and with, you know, dwindling access to long-term care insurance for some people, that number, almost $75,000 a year, is not covered by medicare. >> we have a baby boomer population that is aging. >> absolutely. how are we going to pay for it? so that's just a number to make you think. >> that's an extraordinary amount of money. >> it really is. it's not in my retirement calculator when i figure out how much money i have to save. it doesn't fix in dollar the. >> this morning's "house call," money can't buy love. and spending too much on pricey jewels and fancy cars could make for a rocky marriage. that's right. according to researchers have

brigham young university, they studied 1,700 couples and found those who valued money and having lots of things were unhappier and tended to fight more. the study's author says that materialistic people may spend more time looking for new things rather than focusing on the relationship. >> and they might be more in debt, and debt makes couples unhappy too. all right. 30-year fixed rate mortgages at 4.2%. 15-year fixed rates at 3.5%. a five-year adjustable adjusted at 3%. mortgage rates are hovering around record lows. so is now the time to refinance in? this week's smart is the new finance, if you have a mortgage rate with an interest rate above 5%, you need to refinance. rock bottom rates can spell big savings for homeowners. how big? consider a house that's $200,000. three years ago, maybe a 6% mortgage rate was common, and the payment was about $1,100 a month.

take the same house, refinance it at 5.5% maybe a year ago. your cost would be $1135 a month. refinance today at 4.2%. the mortgage payment is only 2 $978 a month. that is a savings over a year of a good amount. lower payment, and you would save $79,000 in interest over the life of the loan. so why aren't thousands refinancing? because it takes money. home appraisals can run you upwards of $400. closing costs can reach a couple of thousand, at a minimum. and it takes time and patience and paperwork. if you bought a year or two ago, maybe your home has lost value our your credit score has dropped, then you're probably frozen out. >> the single biggest impediment to refinancing is the lack of equity that many homeowners have. what it really takes to qualify and get these low rates is good credit, proof of income, and some equity in the home.

and it's that lack of equity that's really the main obstacle for so many homeowners. >> a quarter of the country is underwater. so for them they can't refinance. but for everyone else who plans to stay in their house a few years, mortgage brokers say do it. >> the good thing about lower interest rates and people refinancing, it puts more cash in the consumer's pocket, and hopefully that will get people to start spending and help get this economy to really recover. >> the 30-year fixed mortgage is a popular refinancing option. applications are up for 15-year fixed loans as well. a lot of people are looking at those. save so much, so much on interest. the advantages of the 15-year, you'll own your home in half the time and build equity faster and pay a lot less in interest. the down side is the monthly payments are higher than with a 30-year fixed. but for more on saving money on your housing expenses, you check out smart is the new rich. and i know you just refinanced. >> i did. and i did the math, and you do think about the costs for the appraisals and closing costs and everything, and it is thousands of dollars.

but when i thought about it, i thought, i'm going to make it up in a year. and maybe it's only a few hundred dollars that i'm going to save each month, but that adds up fast. >> it does. and you chose a 15-year? >> i did. >> you're going to save a lot in interest on a 15-year. >> it's a bit of a tighter squeeze, but i think it will be worth it in the end. i keep telling myself that. anyway, thank you for the tips though. your top stories are next. it's 58 minutes after the hour. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

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speed that kills. racing fans in shock after a violent car crash claims the life of an indycar champion. fellow racers are saying it's the worst crash they've ever seen. herman cain visits phoenix today. he'll beicideli sidling up to t sheriff with a reputation for cracking down. we'll ask him why so many gop candidates are desperate for his endorsement when he joining us live on this "american morning." good morning, everybody. it's monday, october 17. ali veshi and carol cosstill oh are off this morning.

i'm alina cho with christine romans. >> we begin with a tragedy on the tracks. dan wheldon died in one of the worst crashes the sport has ever seen yesterday in las vegas. this is a chain reaction on the track. several cars bursting into flames. it claimed a man who was by all accounts one of the sport's all-around stars and nice guys. >> reporter: on the last race of the year, dan wheldon's car sailing into the air, slamming into the catch fence, and disintegrating. >> multiple cars involved. >> reporter: a horrific 15-car wreck. video showing the cars spinning out of control, bursting into flames, and shooting smoke and debris into the air. >> cars and flames, wreckage, carnage, terrible. >> they just crump belled and caught fire. and i mean, everybody gasped. >> reporter: racers got the news about two hours after the crash.

>> indycar is very sad to announce that dan wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injury. our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. >> reporter: the race was ended, but drivers, many in tears, returned to the track for a five-lap salute in his honor. >> i know this is a dangerous sport. i know you can die every day in a normal life as well. but, you know, you don't think about it. and today, we have to think about it. we lost one of my best friends and one of my greatest teammates. if you ask anybody on this field if we could choose a way to go, that's the way. so i wouldn't have chosen different either. >> reporter: dan wheldon made his indycar debut back in 2002. he was a two-time defending champion at the indianapolis 500. fans laid flowers and lit candles outside the iconic

brickyard last night. >> dan wheldon exemplified everything about this series and about why people continue to come to this place. this is the racing capital of the world. this is why people come here. >> reporter: this was wheldon drinking the milk in victory lane back in may. winning in one of the most thrilling finishes ever at the indy 500. taking the checkered flag when the leader crashed in the final lap. he joined "american morning" just hours after that big win, and talked about the pressure to stay sharp and stay fast. >> it's incredibly intense around this racetrack. we're doing speeds in excess of 225 miles an hour. and with this race, you just never know what can happen. so it's about staying focused, and you really don't ever let off the power unless you have to. and, you know, that's what i wanted to do yesterday. and that's what i did. >> reporter: wheldon entered yesterday's race for a shot at a $5 million purse. the biggest of his career. he was starting at the back of a crowded 34-car pack.

wheldon is survived by his wife, susie, his 2-year-old son sebastian, and his 7-month-old son oliver. he was just 33 years old. >> he wasn't just a great driver. but he was a great human being. i just can't believe that he is no longer with us. >> it was an honor after he won in may to talk to him. you and i both talked to him after the indy 5 he00, and he w energetic and gracious. he was racing on behalf of alzheimer's awareness. his mother had recently been diagnosed. and he was by all accounts a very vibrant, exciting family man. >> young and charming. that's right. and his wife was there on the racetrack when it happened. another story that we're following very closely, just a horrific story, three people in philadelphia have been arrested for allegedly holding four mentally disabled adults captive in the subbasement of an apartment building. it's a crime that shocked the

city and sickened police, who say the suspects were actually doing this because they wanted to steal the victims' social security checks. >> reporter: police call it an act of evil. in a basement below the basement of this philadelphia house, a chain shackled one of four mentally and physically challenged adults to a boiler. all of them locked behind a steel door. one woman and three men, aged 29 to 41. >> it looks like a dungeon. these people were stored like surplus meat in the basement. >> reporter: held captive in a 15-by-15-foot room, emaciated, covered in bed sores in filthy conditions. the building's owner discovered them saturday. he pried the door open, and couldn't believe his eyes. >> you had one person was chained from the left ankle with a padlock and chain. and even the police didn't have the tools to cut the chain.

i got my hack saw to cut the padlock. >> quite simply, this case just makes you shake your head. it's despicable. and unspeakable. the mere fact that, you know, individuals would treat disadvantaged people like this is just ridiculous. i mean, it just simply makes us sick. >> reporter: neighbors couldn't believe what was going on. >> it's crazy that somebody in real life can do something like this. this is only stuff that you see in movies. >> reporter: three people are charged, including linda west obb on. police say the suspects travelled with their victims from texas to florida, and arrived in philadelphia october 4. they're jailed on six charges, including kidnapping and aggravated assault. investigators say they might have been stealing social security checks of thelleged victims. the fbi is looking into that. the four victims are now hospitalized. >> i don't know whether the motivation of this is financial or whether it's just out and out evil. i'm not sure.

but either way, it's just a despicable act. >> reporter: the victims were in such bad shape the landlord who found them told us if he had discovered them one day later, he believes they would have been dead. cnn, philadelphia. all right. another story we're following this morning. the number of people protesting against wall street and the big banks is multiflying. over the weekend, the movement now entering its 31st day, surged into times square. rallies also were held in chicago and washington. for the most part, protests were peaceful. but in washington, 19 people were arrested yesterday, including professor and civil rights activist cornell west, after they refused to leave the steps of the supreme court. the occupy wall street movement is also going global. and this happened so fast. there were protests over the weekend in a number of european cities, in 82 countries, including rome, italy, where the demonstrations took a violent turn after protesters torched cars and smashed windows. they set buildings to fire.

police officers were among the injured. and the movement against corporate greed even spreading as far as the alaskan tundra. this woman took a picture and posted it on the occupy wall street facebook page. the image has now been shared by more than 5,000 people. >> i guess it was just a matter of time. president obama hits the road again today. his three-day bus tour is part of an effort to get congress to pass some elements of his jobs bill after it was defeated in the senate last week. there he is at the dedication ceremony of the mlk monument yesterday. the president this week will make several stops in north carolina and virginia. herman cain is in arizona today. he'll be attending a republican fund raiser in phoenix tonight after he meets with the sheriff of maricopa county. he has been an outspoken critic of illegal immigration, and says that cain is the fourth presidential candidate to seek his endorsement. she he is joining us live from phoenix this morning. >> good morning.

>> your phone must be ringing off the hook. why is it do you think that these republican would-be nominees would like your endorsement? >> well, it's not because i'm tall, dark, and handsome, which i'm not. but i have been around 20 years, and many years as head of the federal drug enforcement in mexico, texas, arizona. so i think i know where the border is. that may be one reason. but i'll meet with mr. cain. i met with michele bachmann in my office last month. and i'll see how he stands on the illegal imgragds problem. >> he got in a little bit of cur enough el because he said he would like to see the electrified fence with a sign that says this will kill you. he later told david gregory, no, that was a joke. how important is the fence issue to you and your potential endorsement, and do you think that he was joking? >> oh, i'm sure he was joking. but he probably means that he's

taking it serious. to do something at the border. and stop the illegal immigration. but i'm not against a fence, but if you buy a ladder and hop over, i'd like to see people go to jail, not give them a free ride back to mexico. so if you want to put a fence and they go over it, they can pay. >> yeah. and your whole focus has always been on interior enforcement, and what your doing inside the country. and that's actually gotten you in a little bit of hot water yourself. you're currently facing a civil rights investigation over your immigration policies. you're being investigated by a grand jury on charges of abuse of power. has any of that come up with your talks of candidates? or they want your endorsement because you are seen as tough on illegal immigration? >> no. they're still calling me. they probably understand this is all garbage going after me for the past three years. even the president mentioned me a couple of weeks ago. but i'm doing my job. i'll continue to do it. and serve the people of maricopa county.

>> one of the things that you -- we haven't heard a lot about is what herman cain went on to say about what his stance is on illegal immigration. and he says it's not as simple as just deporting. it's about securing the border. it's a physical fence technology, putting troops in very dangerous areas. also promoting a pathway to citizenship that's already there, and cleaning up the bureaucracy. enforcing the laws we already have. does this correspond i guess with your views? would you endorse those opinions? >> well, i'm against amnesty. we do enforce the laws in the interior. we go into private businesses and lock up those employed illegally. most for social security theft. so i believe in enforcing the laws in the interior, and stop blaming the border and use that as a copout. so secure the border first, and then look at illegal immigration. it's against the law, so we lock

them up in maricopa county for being here illegally. >> sheriff, i'm going to be honest with you. in 2005, congress passed a law to secure that border. and it just really by all kinds of different measurements has not come to fruition with an awful lot of money spent. one could argue there's not an awful lot of political will to secure that border. that that was simply congress pandering to the the time some anti-illegal immigration waves in the country, and that has passed. that time has passed. >> yeah. i think they're worried about the hispanic vote or employers hiring cheap labor. so we've got to get with it and either change the laws, make new laws, or enforce the laws that we have already. that's the problem. they're not enforcing the laws. >> all right. sheriff joe arpaio, maricopa county. you let us know when you decide who you endorse.

will you, sir? >> ok. >> thanks, sheriff joe. >> in part because he is tall, dark, and handsome. >> yeah. exactly. and don't forget to join us tomorrow night as the republican candidates gather in las vegas to debate. cnn is hosting. tuesday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern. anderson cooper will moderate. and our own carol costello will be there live for all the morning after analysis. still ahead, must-see video. the post game handshake that almost had two nfl coaches throwing punches. one coach admitting he was way too pumped up. and it's been called the mona lisa of rock-n-roll photos. this one there. john lennon, standing, arms folded, in that new york city t-shirt. the man who took that iconic photo and many others will be here with us. he's worked with fans from the clash to tina turner to green day. i think he has a few stories to tell. we'll share them with you. it's 15 minutes after the hour. ♪ [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

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so american business can get on with business. so if i didn't know better i'd say you're having some sort of big tire sale. yes we are. yeah. how many tires does ford buy every year? over 3 million. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires? correct. anywhere? yes. like this price? yes. riously? yes what about this one? i'll beat it. this one? s we will. right, i only have one more question for you...this one? (laughing) yeah. get $100 rebate when you buy four tires. 100 bucks! only at your ford dealer. 3 million tires. 11 major brands, fiona's kind-of-nice. i don't know why you're not here.

♪ welcome to the world ♪ i'll be your rock star >> the world series is now set. it will be the texas rangers verse us the st. louis cardinals. game one is on wednesday night. the cards winning the national league pennant last night by stomping the milwaukee brewers in game six, final score 12-6. a little more than a month ago, the cardinals were trailing by more than 10 games in the race for the playoffs. quite a turn-around. two nfl coaches nearly coming to blows after a tough post game handshake. san francisco coach jim harbaugh was a bit pumped up after his 49ers beat the detroit lions. the lions coach jim schwartz took exception to the enthusiasm, gets in his face. both coaches then talked about it in their post game news conferences. harbaugh admitted shaking hands too hard. >> i think that was -- >> i mean, a good manly handshake among football coaches is expected.

>> i don't know. maybe he was extra manly. >> he was exuberant. >> both teams have surprised the nfl this year, that's for sure. and harbaugh has done quite a good job. and i'm not going to say too much more about that. i'll get criticized for doing too much sports. let's do weather. action in the tropics right now. i know you're thinking hurricane season, we haven't seen anything in almost two months. well, we have hurricane season until the end of november. and this is percolating in a spot that is typical for this time of year. in the yucatan peninsula there, or the channel, and the southeastern gulf of mexico. hurricane aircraft will fly in this afternoon and check it out. it could become our next tropical depression or tropical storm of the season. we are already up to the rs, so this would be rena if it continues to develop. already impacting florida with heavy rain. we have a flash flood watch that's out. another two to six inches possibly. and 40-50 mile per hour wind gusts can be expected this afternoon across parts of southern florida. here is a radar scope, filling

in nicely across the keys. and some of the heavier rain will be entrained into the winds that will bring it northward. let's look at that. how many people will be affected by this? it's not just going to be florida. it's going to be tapped into from a storm that will roll across the plains and eventually pick up some moisture. down there and get that train coming from the tropics. and it's going to get into the mid-atlantic, as we go through the middle part of this week, and the northwest as well. we could see several inches of rainfall with this storm so be aware. daytime highs in the 60s and 70s. seasonal stuff. on the backside of this, some cold air coming into the eastern third of the country by the end of next week. so we have that to look forward to. also something else to look forward to, guys. do you remember that back in the spring, we were supposed to have the end of the world? it didn't happen. we're still here. >> when is it now? >> i think it's friday. >> it's coming. >> is that payday? >> october 21st. >> i don't think it's a payday. >> i think it is. >> i don't know. >> regardless, if you do get

paid, you're not going to have anywhere to spend it. >> can we get paid thursday this week, please? >> the doomsday prophet that predicted the end of the world back in may, i think it was may 21, has said that that was actually the day of the end of god's salvation program, which means that it was the last day that you could repent your sins. so if you didn't do it by then, you guys have missed the deadline. >> you weren't grandfathered in by may 21, you're out of the picture? >> that's right. so come the end of the world this friday, you're not in good health, that's for sure. because all of your sins count, and when we're judged in the afterlife, you're in big trouble. >> since when did you become the expert on this? >> i don't know. it's kind of like a refinancing program. gives you a fresh start. hopefully you said you're sorry back in may. the countdown is on. this friday is the end of the world. >> ok. thank you. >> yeah. gallows humor. a quick check of the early morning markets. they won't matter by friday.

what was the top priority project steve jobs was working on right before his death? we have the details of steve jobs' one more thing. it's 22 minutes after the hour. so if i didn't know better i'd say you're having some sort of big tire sale. yes we are. yeah. how many tires does ford buy every year? over 3 million. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires? correct. anywhere? yes. like this price? yes. riously? yes what about this one? i'll beat it. this one? s we will. right, i only have one more question for you...this one? (laughing) yeah. get $100 rebate when you buy four tires. 100 bucks! only at your ford dealer. 3 million tires. 11 major brands, fiona's kind-of-nice. i don't know why you're not here. we've been dedicated to helping our students succeed in america's most in demand careers. we provide you with instructors who are professionals

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25 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning, citigroup just releasing its third quarter earnings report. the third largest u.s. bank posting a net income for the quarter of $3.77 billion, up from $2.17 last year. the bank's ceo also called the current economic environment, quote, challenging. u.s. stock futures giving up earlier gains due to the european debt crisis. the back and forth between apple and samsung is getting uglier. samsung wants sales of the iphone banned now in japan and australia. they claim apple copied its new

technology. it's important to know that both companies have worked together. steve jobs' last big project may be the iphone 5. the website cnet is reporting that jobs dedicated all of his time to the new iphone, expected to be released sometime next year. it will be a complete redesign, both on the inside and the outside. and it was a tight fight for the box office title, but "real steel" stars hugh jackman was the number one movie over the weekend, taking in $16.3 million. the remake of "footloose" opened this weekend with $16.1 million. up next, a crash so terrifying it's difficult to comprehend. this morning, racing fans are in mourning after indy 500 champ dan wheldon is killed in a 15-car pileup at the las vegas speedway. we'll have the very latest. "american morning" is back right after this break.

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top stories, a suspect under arrest after a boston apartment complex went up in flames, injuries more than a dozen people, including two firefighters and a police officer. the boston fire department says 22 apartments were affected, but it's not clear how many people were inside of them. a horrifying sdoidiscovery philadelphia apartment building. three suspects have been arrested and charged with locking four mental ill adults in a 10-by-15 foot room for up to a week. police say they were stealing the victims' social security checks. the racing world is stunned this morning after a fiery wreck that claimed the life of indycar champion dan wheldon. the track covered in tangle wreckage. the race was stopped just after the accident. emotional drivers returned to the track for a five-lap tribute. wheldon was this year's indianapolis 500 winner. he was a father of two, and just 33 years old. the race was one of the most hyped of the year with $5 million on the line for dan wheldon. and even less room for error than usual.

carlos diaz has new details from las vegas. >> reporter: well, fans from indianapolis to here in las vegas to all over the world are still shocked this morning at the death of one of the most famous indycar racers to date, dan wheldon. dan wheldon passed away right here in turn two yesterday after a 15-car massive pileup crash which you just saw, and he was air lifted to a local hospital. dan wheldon, one of the most successful drivers on the circuit, won the indianapolis 500 this year, and now he's remembered for all of the things he's done. dan wheldon said before this race it was going to be very intense. >> it's incredibly intense around this racetrack. we're doing speeds in excess of 225 miles an hour. and with this race, you just never know what can happen. so it's about staying focused. and you really don't ever let off the power unless you have to. >> reporter: the las vegas motor speedway is a mile and a half oval. to put things in perspective for

you, the indianapolis motor speedway is 2 1/2 miles. so basically you have a much smaller track, and much higher bank turns here at the las vegas motor speedway. so when you have a number of cars going 220 miles an hour, some bad things are likely to happen. and that's what happened here yesterday. a horrific crash, one that danica patrick said was one of the worst that she's ever seen in all of her years of racing. and once again, fans mourning this morning all over the world. we'll have fan reaction all morning long. and i knew dan wheldon as a person. i'll be talking to you and telling you stories all morning long about dan wheldon the father, the husband, and dan wheldon the champion. coming up all morning. carlos, thank you very much. earlier we spoke to former indycar driver lyn st. james. and she knew dan wheldon and knows what it's like to handle a machine like that going more than 200 miles an hour with zero margin for error.

>> it's the perfect storm. it was where everything that happened that came together, you know, caused the result, which was that crash and unfortunately the death of dan. but no one thing actually caused it. but the configuration of the track, 34 cars starting, and a 1 1/2 mile track at those speeds. and so, you know, all of that combined, and then having a driver start at the back, and the champion that really wanted to have a great show. >> he laid it on the line on the track. off the track, he was becoming the face of his sport. we also spoke to a "sports illustrated" senior writer about his legacy in auto racing. >> it's so sad to see such a young career end like this. >> this is the indy 500 winner. and you're right. this is really going to be the face of indycar racing. danica patrick is going to go to nascar. and the context of this is sort of interesting too, where indycar racing is fighting for some relevance. they are going against the stock car racing, which has gotten

more popular lately. and he is really going to be the centerpiece of the sport. >> he certainly will be missed. and of course our hearts go out to his family. just 33 years old with a wife and two children. coming up, led zeppelin, the stones, john lennon, the clash, and now green day. he has documented rock history. wait a minute. he is rock history. we're going to talk to legendary rock photographer bob gruen about his new book. it's 34 minutes after the hour. ♪ i'm not a number.

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♪ strawberry fields don't you just love that song? up to a sunny 67 in new york

city. welcome back to "american morning." recognize this photo? who doesn't? it's the iconic john lennon photo, and it can be found on t-shirts and posters and postage stamps all over the world. but you may not know the man behind the lens. his name is bob gruen. for more than 40 years, gruen has documented rock-n-roll. and in the process, creating some of the most well-known images in modern music history. gruen's work is compiled in his latest book called "rock scene." it's a heavy one, but it's good. we want to welcome you to the show. bob, it's so nice to see you again. >> thank you. good morning. >> when i was thinking about interviewing you, i thought to myself, a lot of people want to know, how did you get in with these bands? you were friends with a lot of these people. >> one thing led to another. i was always friends with musicians. in the '60s, i would tune in, turn on, and drop out. they got a record deal. and one thing led to another. the record company liked my

pictures. and i have been taking pictures ever since. >> one of the first times you saw john lennon and yoko ono, you snapped some photos backstage. and you lived around the corner from them at the time, right? and didn't yoko years later remark that you just sent them the photos? you didn't want anything from them. >> i wanted to get to know john and yoko, but i didn't want to bother them. so i had the pictures and i just dropped them off and left them for them. and they appreciated that. >> that i know is one of your favorite photos of john lennon in front of the statue of liberty there. why do you like that one so much? >> well, i think a lot of people relate to it because they relate to john lennon in terms of personal freedom. and that's what the statue of liberty is all about. i think it has a lot of meaning to a lot of people. >> and the one that you're most known for, though, is the one where he is standing with his arms crossed, wearing that new york city t-shirt. and you have such an interesting story behind that photo. tell us that. >> well, i used to wear shirts like that all the time. i bought them in times square. and i gave them to my friends.

i gave one to john lennon. about a year later, we were taking pictures for an album, and we said let's take some more pictures for publicity. and i said, do you still have that shirt i gave you? and i was impressed having been to l.a. and back a few times, kind of a wild time, he knew right where the shirt was. he put it on. >> $5 t-shirt. >> yeah. and i cut the sleeves off with my buck knife. >> you say that he was actually very self conscious about wearing that sleeveless t-shirt, wasn't he? >> well, you know, he wasn't used to that kind of a look. but i think he looked very comfortable. he looks very confident. and i think that's why people like the pictures because he seems very accessible and comfortable. >> it's an iconic photo now. it was taken in august of 1974. but interestingly enough, it wasn't really famous until after his death, six years later, in 1980. and you chose that photo to hang there right in central park for his public memorial service. why? >> because john enjoyed living in new york city. i saw a picture of him with a guitar, and another picture

where he looked really intellectual. but in that picture, he really looked comfortable. and yoko had written an ad in the paper saying don't blame new york. that the person who, you know, took john away came from around the world. and i think that john died in new york because he lived in new york. he died going home. >> have you worked with some of the most famous musicians in the world. i'm so jealous when i just start to read the list, tina turner being one of them. and there's one great photo, that one there. what is that all about? >> well, tina turner used to dance off the stage at the end of her act with a stroeb light flashing. and i saw this actually in long island city. very funky little club. but at the end of the show, when the strobe was flashing, i opened the camera for a one-second exposure to see if i could get a few images of her, and this came out perfectly. sometimes people ask if i can take a picture of them like that, and i say sure, i'll do what i did and you do what tina did. >> and you always travel with your camera.

>> i do. i have a camera in my pocket. >> you never leave the house without it. >> no. this little camera has more power than my camera used to have. modern cameras are great. >> do you like shooting digitally now? >> oh, yes. it's very easy. you know what happens right away. you don't have to wait for the film to be developed. >> that part is great. and what is extraordinary to me is you could have hung up your hat frankly in the 'sfich70s, bu didn't. in fact, you shot this great photo of the clash on top of the rca building and years later you took green day back. and there you see it. and aren't green day coming back next week? >> yeah. and i'm looking forward to seeing them. probably be up all night again. >> what keeps you going? you're still in clubs four to five days a week. >> yeah, i enjoy it. i have a lot of fun going out, seeing bands. i don't really like to sit home. i like to be in a live place and see things, you know, and experience things in life. >> why did you decide to do this book?

debbie harry wrote the forward. it's an extraordinary compilation. but as big and heavy as this is, this is nowhere near all the photos you have done. >> no. there's a few more books. but this is a really nice collection of a lot of my favorites and a lot of best pictures. it took a long time in the making to get all the pictures. and then to try to put it in a nice format where it's not too formal, and it's fun. >> if you had to pick one, could you pick one? >> that's like saying which one is your favorite kid, you know. it's hard to pick one. i could pick 25. or top 10 maybe. >> top 10 maybe. one last story i want you to tell about john lennon, which i found so interesting. in the early days, he came to your apartment building. he was looking for you. he had a little trouble finding you. what happened? >> well, he had been out all weekend and wanted to stop by the house on the way home. so i had just moved to a new apartment. but my building is very confusing. you have to go to one floor to come down to the other. and i told him to buzz me when he got there, but he didn't.

and he started going through the building and ringing door bells. and all the people in my building, it's a whole building of artists. it's an artist residents building, about 400 artists. so here is john lennon ringing the door bell. oh, my god, it's john lennon. let me read you my poem. let me show you my painting. i have a new film. and he came to the apartment and said, boy, you got some weird neighbors here, you know. >> unbelievable. i guess that just goes to show you, he didn't even realize how famous he was, did he? >> well, he did. but my neighbors didn't know that i knew him. and they certainly -- they still remember it today. >> i'm sure they do. >> it was a sunday afternoon. hi, i'm john lennon. >> bob gruen, i wish you the best of luck with this book. it is extraordinary. >> thank you. >> thank you. i have my copy at home. and i'll go back and look at it again tonight. thanks so much. >> well, thank you. >> a rock legend himself. your morning headlines are next. it's 44 minutes after the hour. we're back after this.

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it's 47 minutes after the hour. markets open in about 45 minutes, and u.s. stock futures giving up earlier gains. they are currently trading lower because of renewed concerns over that ongoing debt crisis in europe. president obama kicks off a three-day bus trip this morning, part of an effort to push lawmakers to pass his jobs bill piece by piece. the president will make stops in north carolina and virginia. the occupy wall street protest is now entering its 31st day here in new york city. there were a number of rallies held over the weekend in cities across the country and the world, most of those protests were peaceful with a handful of arrests. the racing world is mourning the death of indycar champion dan wheldon this morning. he was killed in a fiery 15-car wreck on the track in las vegas. he was a father of two, just 33 years old. there's a delay in the involuntary manslaughter trial of michael jackson's doctor.

testimony is on hold because a father of the prosecution's final witness died. no word from the court when that trial will resume. even with the delay, the case against dr. conrad murray could go to the jury early next week. "sesame street's" youtube channel has been taken offline after being hit by hackers. yesterday, visitors to the site saw pornographic videos instead of clips from the kids' show. so far, no response from pbs, the show's producers, or google. google owns youtube. and the st. louis cardinals are heading to the world series. they won game six with a 12-6 route of the milwaukee brewers last night to advance. it's their 18th trip to the fall classic. they will play the texas rangers. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" is back right after this break.

♪ what a gorgeous day in atlanta, georgia. sunny and 54 right now, but going up 30 degrees to a high of 84. is it summer or fall? >> i know. jacket in the morning, sunscreen in the afternoon. this morning's "house call," kids as young as 4 can be put on medication for adhd. expanding the age for diagnosis and treatment to include preschoolers. critics fear many will be misdiagnosed and receive unnecessary medications as a result. money can't buy you love, and spending too much of it on pricey jewels and fancy cars or jets could make for a rocky marriage.

researchers from brigham young university studied 1,700 couples, and found that those who valued money and having lots of things were unhappier and tended to fight more. the study's author says materialistic people may spend more time looking for those new things than focussing on their relationship. >> a lot of other studies have found that when couples have debt, they are unhappier than couples who don't have debt, no matter how much money they make. >> a lot of people fight about money. the vatican saying there is no concern for pope benedict's overall health after he was wheeled up the main aisle of st. peter's basilica of the main platform. a spokesperson saying they just didn't want the 84-year-old pontiff to get tired. >> there you go. it makes things easier. you hear it a lot in the lone star state. don't mess with texance. but these days, texans are feeling like they have been messed with big time. they have issues with nasa and new york. one lawmaker wants the space agency to reconsider its plans

to give a retired space shuttle to a museum in the big apple. john zarella is watching this big fight for us. he is live in miami this morning with more on this. this is a crazy story, john. >> yeah, it really is. what happened is that when nasa first awarded the retired space shuttles, new york got one. texas didn't. and that infuriated texans. and now more fuel has been added to the fire. there were only four retired space shuttles available. coveted. the holy grails of space flight. >> the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time. >> reporter: even at a cost of nearly $30 million apiece, dozens of museums bid. new york's intrepid sea, air, and space museum was one of the winners. it gets enterprise, a test shuttle that never flew into space. it's currently at the smithsonian.

but folks in texas, home to the johnson space center, never happy that new york got a shuttle when they didn't, are crying foul again. you bet we are, says texas representative ted poe. >> it is a bait and switch. >> reporter: bait and switch? well, let's rewind. may of 2010. before the shuttles were awarded. here's what the intrepid museum's executive director told us then. >> on the west end of our pier, we have the concord. and we would look to shift the placement of the concord and place the shuttle in that spot. >> reporter: but the plan now, construct a building not on the end of the pier, but over here, on the other side of the busy highway, on land that's now a parking lot. land they don't yet own. next to a car wash, bagel shop, and warehouses. museum officials so willing to talk before they were selected wouldn't talk with us now. they issued a statement saying, in part, while we continue to be in the planning stages, we remain on track with both our logistics and our fund-raising.

poe, he's got plenty to say. >> new york, god bless them, they are a wonderful city, but they have no connection to the space program, and certainly no connection to nasa. so why would the shuttle go to new york? it's like putting the statue of liberty in omaha. >> reporter: poe wants bidding for enterprise reopened. nasa, on the other hand, is satisfied with intrepid's new plan. >> i don't tell them how to suck eggs, you know. they gave us a plan, they told us they would have the money. they gave us a schedule and everything, and as far as i know, they're on schedule. and so i trust them that they're going to deliver what they said. >> reporter: but texans say they have the history. the first words uttered when man landed on the moon, not new york, but -- >> houston, tranquility base here. the eagle has landed. >> reporter: now this fight is not likely to go away anytime soon, because, you know, for the

shuttle to go to new york, the one in the smithsonian, that one, enterprise, will have to be moved to new york. then discovery goes to the smithsonian. well, they've got to move enterprise. and before that building is built in new york, enterprise is going to sit apparently in a climate-controlled tent out at jfk waiting for its building to be built. if in fact they do still get it. >> did they raise the money? or do they think they are going to raise the money? >> they say they have the money. and the fund-raising is not complete yet, about you they will have the money by the time they take delivery of enterprise. but it's going to sit out at jfk apparently until their building is built. >> oh, my goodness. i love new york. new york is my home. you know, but doesn't texas need the shuttle? more than we do? >> no one ever said the borough of manhattan, we have a problem.

>> that's right. >> it's houston, we have a problem. thanks so much, john. >> bye-bye. >> thank you. 56 minutes after the hour. we're back after this. i wish you guys had layaway -- well... 'cause i could pay a little at a time... that would work. actually we do -- the kids would just be like, "no way, awesome!" we -- we do! all that! layaway baby! [ male announcer ] layaway's back for christmas. starting october 17th. a we don't go lower than 130. ts a room tonight for 65 dollars. big deal, persuade him. is it wise to allow a perishable item to spoil? he asked, why leave a room empty? the additional revenue easily covers operating costs. 65 dollars is better than no dollars. okay. $65 for tonight. you can't argue with a big deal.

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washington, d.c., cloudy and 60. sunny and 74 later on today. >> some of the biggest performers in the world paid tribute to former president bill clinton. it happened over the weekend. usher among them, playing at the decade of difference party at the hollywood bowl. it was a celebration of the former president's 65th birthday, and also the 10th anniversary of the william j. clinton foundation. isn't he great? the awkward moment of the night went to lady gaga and her -- let's just call it a marilyn moment. >> i just thought we all would get caught up in a little bill romance.